Met Gala Recap (at your request!)

I honestly didn’t think a Met Gala recap was in order, but after seeing a handful of comments and messages asking about it I had to. To be concise, I thought overall the fashion was pretty bad. And you always have to keep the “theme” in mind for the Met Gala, but after viewing the gowns on display by Charles James, the night’s honoree, I am not quite sure where all the fug came from.

Shall we start with the best? Okay.

The golden, blinding beauty that is Blake and Ryan wins in all the categories. I mean, look at them! Classic old Hollywood style and the glow of love… you can’t compete with that! Their babies are going to be something to behold…

Also killing it, Chrissy Teigen and John Legend. The ruffles could go bad very easily but that insanely sexy side profile (perhaps a smidge too much side-boob, I admit) helps keep it young. I still think they look fun, beautiful and happy.

Karlie Kloss looks gorgeous…as always!

Not a big fan of Andrew’s tux, but Emma Stone looks ravishing in pink and even though I have had it up to HERE with the crop top trend, this I love. Subtle, sexy and young- just like her. And who says red-heads can’t wear pink?

And we need to address this upfront- Lupita’s first miss. I wish she had worn a dramatic and structured ballgown reminiscent of Charles James- this Prada get-up is so not worthy of her beauty.

Gisele. You should not look so pleased with yourself (even though you do look great). Because you let/made THIS happen to my beloved Tom earlier this week. NO EXCUSES. You never let your husband out in public like this, unless he lost a massive, massive bet and has to pay up via looking like a complete moron in public.

Okay, so some more of the good now that I got that out of my system, some of the more theme appropriate gowns…

This one on Liu Wen is so artistic, drop dead awesome on her and perfect for the evening…but all I could think about was Carrie’s dress for her botched wedding to Big.

Arizona Muse and Stella Tennant killed it in ballgowns in gorgeous bright hues.

Although I do not love Emmy Rossums’s makeup and hair, her Carolina Herrera gown is pretty amazing in a bold, theme-appropriate way!

I LOVE LOVE LOVE how balls to the wall SJP goes for the Met Gala (remember last year’s punk rock look and the unforgettable time she totally rocked everyone’s world with that kilt McQueen number?) I think her choice this year is perfectly Charles James, but I wish that Oscar de la Renta logo was NOT on the train of the gown!

She’s just the coolest though. Respect.

Charlize rarely gets it wrong, and this look was great on her and the design did reference James’ work. Allison Williams also looked GORGEOUS- that dress has the perfect cut for her and the statement necklace and simple hair and makeup are all class.

Some pretty and simple white dresses- just wish Victoria Beckham’s makeup was lighter and brighter.

I didn’t love Beyonce’s look (so so sick of the sheer skirt thing)- Jay-Z looked dashing though! And how cute are Claire Danes and Hugh Dancy? But her dress made her legs look really short for some reason!?

There is something I really dug about Kate Mara’s look (her hair is kind of amaze too) but something else I can’t quite put my finger on that was a little off- the color perhaps? The fit of the sheer top? Hmmmm. And I loved this Emilio Pucci dress on the runway- and still love it- but I think it would have been better on Leighton if she had done a more formal updo with statement earrings to offset the slouchy silhouette with something sleeker.

Reese- YES YES YES!!! Amazing! Everyone else- MEH.

Do I even need to say it?

Ok, when the invitation says BALL and the honoree was known for his ball gowns…you wear a long dress. I can’t even begin to list all the things wrong with Elizabeth Olsen’s look- Icecapades dress, mismatched shoes, off-color clutch. It’s the worst of the night I think. And Michelle Williams, who I worship, looks like she’s going to an office Christmas party, not the Met Ball! No short cocktail dresses for the Met Ball…

Equally as awful. Anna could wear anything and this was the pick? As for the situation on the right, I don’t care if it’s Chanel (which it is), it’s bad. A big label doesn’t mean it’s right.

Uhhhhhh, nope. And P.S. Kate Upton looks like she works in a kitchy Texas saloon.

The O twins. Oh ladies, you kind of look like sad Victorian grandmothers in mourning. Such pretty, young girls- wouldn’t it be amazing if they showed up to a red carpet in something fresh, colorful and modern without sleeves?

Any I missed that you loved or hated (there are so many more- I just can’t post them all here for fear of crashing the server!)

I can’t get past Reese’s hairdo — maybe it’s all the reruns of Pleasantville recently mixed with the hot pink of Legally Blonde, makes her like a mashup of characters she’s played? I love the dress though.

Hey Erin. I visit your site every day, mostly for the clothes and fashion stuff, but you’re teaching me loads about decorating! I just wanted to bring something to the surface that bothers me, and may bother you. It’s not uncommon for adults to make comments like you did in this post: (regarding the Olsen twins) “Such pretty, young girls- wouldn’t it be amazing if they showed up to a red carpet in something fresh, colorful and modern without sleeves?” It bothers me that you describe the twins as “pretty.” If they were not pretty, objectively or subjectively, should they not show up in something fresh, colorful, and modern without sleeves? Just food for thought. This reminds me of the implications our words have. I just read Gabrielle Sidibe’s speech from the Ms. Foundation gala about implied meaning. People ask her “How are you so confident?” and she says in the speech that people are implying ‘How are you so confident looking as you do?’ because people don’t ask that to Rihanna. But yea, not trying to preach, just try to discuss our culture and how to make things better if possible. Thanks for reading!

uh, pretty much as soon as I noticed it was the Met Ball, I was like Oooh! I don’t have to pay attention b/c Erin will post, and show whats what :) Ha! Reece looked amazing and I want Ryan Scarlets ex hubs and whatsherface to stay together forever.

I thought Karolina Kurkova did a nice job in following the theme and also just choosing a beautiful gown. In all honesty, the Charles James gowns are very difficult to ‘pay homage to’ without things looking too overly done. I thought her dress was a good combination of tailoring with James’ signature butterfly skirt.
Of course, I also loved the blue and white – it almost looked like a beautiful hand-painted piece of china. Her accessories were also perfectly understated to not take away from the dress. Beautiful.

OK!!! Katie Holmes lives in my building in NY and I see her all the time. I happened to be “lucky” enough to witness her monstrosity of a gown in person. All I can say is my eyes are still bleeding. The comparison of her gown to Belle from Beauty and the Beast is priceless! Totally agree!

erin you killed this. grazie. you missed a few things tho. sean penn looks like a way creepy clark gable. i thought that victoria beckham was mindy kaling for a sec..and let’s not forget that katie holmes was married to TC. right?

well SO glad you started with the good looks of the night — i loved emma stone but yah i agree her dates tux was not cute.
and omgggg BELLE! how terrible is that katie holmes dress.
xo jillian – cornflake dreams

The winner for the evening for me was the beautiful hand painted blue silk Marchesa (not in your rundown, shockingly! :))that was gigantic and structural and perfectly theme appropriate. And I don’t usually like Marchesa.

Totally biased but SJP killed it. The logo on the back was meant to be cheeky — they have a long-time love affair and she was in on the joke: SJP loves Oscar, Oscar adores SJP. And not to mention Karlie, Taylor, Alison, Ivanka, Claire…go Mr. de la Renta! He never disappoints.

Great review!! I thought about doing a review as I saw snipets in the headlines, but didn’t have a chance this week…you eloquently summarized 99% of my thoughts on this one, so I should just insert a link to your post, ha! As always, so fun to read, you have a great eye for design and fashion! Thanks for sharing!

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I totally agree with everything you said!!! Wish the Olsen twins would show some teeth when they smiled for once! Didn’t like Blake Lively’s hair style, nor Ryan Reynold’s facial hair (he’s too pretty to cover up with that!) Arizona Muse’s hair was pulled back way too tight (not flattering), but I loved Emma Stone’s, SJP’s, and Charlize Theron’s hair. Didn’t care for Reese Witherspoon’s hairstyle either, though I loved her dress. Overall, I think the best look of the night was SJP, Charlize Theron, and Chrissy Teigen for both dress and hairstyle, of the photos you shared.